'Range Anxiety' Out on the Range

'Range anxiety' is a common concern of people contemplating buying an electric vehicle. It's a fear that they will not find sufficient charging points as they motor. This is exacerbated, in the UK, by a growing 'regional divide' in publically-available chargers (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/feb/16/electric-car-charging-points-spread-too-unequally-across-uk). A lobby group, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, noted that, although there was a 600% in the number of UK electric cars between 2019 and 2021, there was only an 82% increase in publically-available chargers. A third of UK households (especially in urban areas) have no dedicated parking space, where a private charge point can be installed. Although the UK has more rapid chargers/electric vehicle than all other countries except China, South Korea and Japan, their distribution is patchy. BP; EDF and Shell are all investing in the public provision of fast chargers, but much of their cash is, unsurprisingly, directed to wealthier areas of the country. London and Greater Manchester have respectively, 102 and 17 chargers per 100,000 people! This regional divide will have to be addressed, to facilitate any full transition to electric vehicles in the UK.